


It's Definitely the Eyes.

by orphan_account



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: BECAUSE OF THE FIRE, Heterochromia!Michael, How Do I Tag, I need help, JAKE HATES RICH, JAKE IS A DICK, M/M, MUAHAHAHAHAH IM SO EVILI, Maybe I should stop, Michael needs friends, So I guess it works out, So does Rich, This fic is gonna be crap, expensive headphones, hey look, muahahahah, oof, wowie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-27 19:48:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12088125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Oof yeah it's expensive headphones. Yay.





	1. Chapter 1

Rich heard someone call his name from down the hall. It sounded familiar, but then again, he knew a lot of people.

"Rich!"

He heard the stranger repeat.

"Wait up!"

Rich turned around to see Jeremy jogging up to him, with Michael walking behind him at a much slower pace.

"Hey." He mumbled, raising a hand to wave.

Jeremy beamed. "How was summer?" He asked once he was close enough to Rich.

The said boy responded with a shrug. He noticed Michael shoot him a look, but brushed it off. 

Jeremy chuckled. "Could've been better, I assume?"

Rich nodded. "Yeah. It was...different. Without Jake."

He turned his head to look at Michael, who just stared back for a moment. Like a deer in the headlights.

Jeremy huffed. "Y'know, you should talk to him. He should be here soon."

"No way. He hates me."

"C'mon! If you apologize, it'll be fine!"

Just as Jeremy finished, Rich noticed Michael looking past the two, his face unreadable. Rich turned to look at what Michael must have been looking at, but when he did, his stomach dropped.

Jake.

Jeremy nudged Rich forward slightly, closer to Jake. Rich scoffed and gained his balance, though he still felt dizzy. 

"Hey."

He managed to squeak out. It must have been funny, because Jake chuckled. 

"Hey, man. How was the break? Burn anything to the ground lately?"

Rich flinched, and it felt like his chest just caved in. "What?" He choked, his voice slightly strained due to nervousness.

Jake hasn't talked to him since the whole fire incident. Hell, he's barely even  _looked_ at him.

Jake chuckled again. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and took a step forward, his face just inches away from Rich.

"Listen. Don't talk to me unless you're forced to. By that, I mean someone's holding a gun to your head and _making_  you. Got it?"

Rich swallowed his pride. He stared for a moment before nodding frantically.

Jake huffed and stood up straight, adjusting his bag in the process. "Good. Have a good first day of school, because it won't last forever."

With that, he was gone.

Rich just stared awkwardly as Jake walked away. He heard Michael breathe a " _What the fuck_ ".

Jeremy stepped in front of Rich, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Damn, dude. Are you okay?"

Rich didn't answer. He just stared. 

Michael stood next to Jeremy, a worried look on his face. "Didn't he like, save you from the fire? From  _dying?_ Why's he hate you all of a sudden?"

Rich finally shrugged. He adjusted his bag and cleared his throat. "I'm going to class." 

He mumbled before pushing past Michael and Jeremy.

* * *

 

Man, was this going to be a rough year.

 


	2. Either High, or Crying.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, the boyos talk.

Rich was sulking for the rest of the day. He spotted Jake in the halls twice, and received a dirty look each time.

He thought this year would be different. He thought apologizing to Jake would help. He thought that maybe he'd be okay, that everything would be okay.

 

 

He thought wrong.

 

* * *

 

 

At the end of the day, Rich bumped into Jeremy and Christine. They were holding hands, as usual.

"Hey, Rich! How was your first day?" Christine asked, a bright smile on her face.

Rich stared for a moment, thinking about what to say. Then again, who could be in a bad mood around Christine?

"It was alright, I guess." He stated with a half hearted smile.

Jeremy gave a questioning look, but brushed it away with words.

"Have you seen Michael around? I haven't seen him since second period."

Rich shrugged. "The only time I saw him today was this morning."

Jeremy huffed. "We'll keep looking. Thanks anyway though."

Rich nodded and waved slightly before walking past the couple. He still had Michael on his mind though. What if he skipped? Hell, he probably had a breakdown or something, and bounced.

The front doors of the school seemed heavier than usual.

So did his backpack.

Everything just felt heavier, or more tiring, today. 

* * *

 

Rich decided to stop at a park on his way home. The walk was so long, and he was way too tired. 

He set his bag down on a bench and sat next to it, just before pulling out his phone and checking the time. Was it really that late?

A group of middle school kids ran past him, onto the playground. They shouted at each other about who was 'it' for Manhunt. 

Rich huffed. Middle school was alright for him. The only 'bullies' were the kids who'd call everyone gay for wearing graphic tees.

 

Then, Michael popped back into his head. Why? He honestly didn't know the answer to that question. He sort of felt..worried? 

Just as he went to stand up, he noticed a familiar red hoodie from afar. He was certain there was nobody there when he first got to the park.

He decided to go talk to Michael, because what else was he supposed to do? Leave?

 

He sat down next to Michael on the bench and sighed.

Michael noticed, but said nothing.

"Did you skip, or something? Didn't see you earlier."

Rich has known Michael for a while, they talked a bit in the hospital while Jeremy was still asleep, and hung out over the summer a couple times. 

Michael looked over, he wasn't wearing his glasses, and his eyes were a bit red. 

He was either high, or crying.

Rich blinked a few times before looking away. "Sorry."

"Yeah, I skipped." Michael finally responded, a very noticeable voice crack on 'yeah'.

Rich flinched. He must've been crying. "Man, are you alright? You sound like shit."

Michael raised an eyebrow.

"I mean- no! Not like that- I- you- you sound like you were crying! That's- that's what I meant-"

Michael cracked a smile. "It's fine, I knew what you meant." He shrugged. "Yeah, just a little overwhelmed. I'm good though."

Rich frowned slightly. "Are you sure? If you wanna talk, or something, I'm here."

Michael nodded. "Yeah, I'll be alright. This always happens."

Rich sighed. Seeing Michael upset made him feel weird inside. Something he's never really felt before.

* * *

 

The two ended up talking for hours. Mostly about school problems, and kind of about friends.

* * *

 

 

 

 

That's when Rich realized;

He had a thing for the antisocial headphones kid. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF IT'S BEEN A DAY AND THIS ALREADY HAD OVER 100 HITS SHSHS THA N K S


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oo f

Rich began to freak out internally. He'd always felt weird around Michael, but he didn't think he was  _gay_ for the kid.

"You good?" Michael asked, an eyebrow raised

"What?"

"You zoned out for a few minutes. What's up?"

Rich paused awkwardly. He couldn't just stand up and expose himself.

_'Hey dude! Sorry I zoned out, I was thinking about my gay feelings for you!'_

Yeah, definitely not.

"Oh, no. I'm fine. Happens all the time."

For some reason, Michael didn't exactly believe that.

Rich smiled nervously. "It's pretty late."

Michael nodded and grabbed his bag. "We should do this again some time."

Rich nodded, gathering his things as well. "I'm sure my dad's gonna be  _ecstatic_ , when I come home." He said sarcastically, followed by a nervous chuckle.

Michael raised an eyebrow. "That was sarcasm, right?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"He's always hella drunk when I get home, so it's tough."

Michael frowned. "How so?" He dared to ask.

Rich flinched. He's never really talked about his at-home problems to anyone. Not even Jake.

"I mean- it's not- it's not  _bad,_ or anything-" 

He chuckled nervously.

"He's just, uh- always angry? I guess you could say that."

Michael huffed. "Yeah, that's not okay. You're not going home."

"What? I do it every other night. We usually just fight a shit ton"

Michael noticed that he didn't specify what kind of fight.

"And I'm putting a stop to that, right now."

"Hold on- where am I supposed to go? I can't stay at McDonald's until morning."

Michael rolled his eyes. "We're going to my place."

"What-"

Before Rich got to continue, Michael was dragging him along by the wrist.

 

* * *

 

Michael stopped for the first time since they left the park, in front of his house.

Rich huffed and stared at the front door. "What about your parents? They're not gonna be mad about a guest at 1:00 in the morning?"

"They're not home. Business trip."

"Oh."

Michael walked up the six stairs leading to the front door, and opened it. It wasn't locked, which was odd.

Rich followed Michael inside, closing the door behind him.

"Welcome to my not-so-humble abode."

Rich chuckled and looked around. "It's nicer than my place. The only area that isn't totally trashed is my room."

Michael shrugged. "Well, make yourself comfortable. I think there's still food. Might've eaten it all though."

Rich nodded. He wasn't hungry or anything, so he didn't bother getting food. 

Michael placed his bag down on the couch before heading upstairs, gesturing for Rich to follow.

He did.

"I probably have something you can wear overnight. It might be a bit big, though."

Rich nodded. "It's still better than jeans."

Michael chuckled and opened his room door. It was surprisingly nice.

"B-r-b."

Michael walked off, most likely to find spare clothes for Rich.

Meanwhile, said boy walked over to the bed and sat down.

 

 

 

 

Where the hell did Michael get a waterbed?

* * *

 

 

After a few minutes, Michael walked into the room to see Rich on his back, his head hanging over the side of the bed.

"Where'd you get this?" He asked, waving his head around.

Michael held back laughter. "My cousin knows a guy, who knows a guy."

Rich rolled his eyes. "You gotta hook me up with one of these."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, here." Michael mumbled, tossing a pair of pajamas at Rich.

He unfolded them and chuckled. "Nice."

Michael huffed. "Bathroom's down the hall, to the left."

Rich nodded and sat up, stretching out. He eventually stood up and headed towards the bathroom.

* * *

 

 

Rich eventually made it back to the room after tripping over himself several times. The pajamas were clearly too big for him.

When he sat down on the bed again, he noticed Michael was wearing pajama pants, though still had his hoodie on.

"Do you sleep with that on?" He asked softly.

Michael chuckled. "Nah, I just wear it until I actually feel like sleeping."

Rich nodded and crossed one of his legs over the other. "So, uh. What now?"

"I dunno, I was planning on gaming for a bit. But if you're gonna sleep, I'll read. Something quiet."

Rich shook his head. "It's cool, you do you. I'm not really tired."

Michael nodded and opened a drawer on his nightstand. He pulled out some sort of Nintendo device. Rich tried to remember what it was called. "What's that?" 

"Ds. First gen."

Rich nodded. "S' what I thought."

Michael flipped it open and turned it on. A jingle played, and was followed by bubble sounds. Rich smiled and fell back onto the bed. His phone was conveniently located beside him, so he turned it on and scrolled through his homepage, looking for something to do.

* * *

 

-Continued in the next chapter bc the writer has no ideas right now and needs to do chores :''')-

 


	4. Maybe You Could Stay With Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I still don't know what to write here honestly

  
Rich opened his eyes and sat up. His vision went blurry for a moment, but his eyes eventually adjusted to the darkness.

He looked around the room, then down at himself.

Oh, right. Michael's place.

The Zelda theme was playing softly from the floor, and a small light sat by the bed. Rich leaned over to see Michael's Ds still on.

Michael was sitting at the top on the bed, his arm hanging over the side. Luckily, he was still sleeping.

Rich realized that he wasn't wearing his hoodie, which Rich has never witnessed before.

He looked his friend up and down. His pajama shirt had a pun about video games printed on the front.

Rich frowned, noticing a few patches of scars on each of his arms. Nothing looked recent, which was good, but he still wished he could've been there to help.

 

* * *

 

 

After what felt like hours of sitting on Michael's bed, doing absolutely nothing, Rich heard shuffling from his side. He sat up and turned towards Michael, who was currently stretching out.

Rich smiled. "Mornin'."

Michael groaned and sat up. His arms felt cold, and he realized he wasn't wearing his hoodie.

He yelped and looked around frantically. He went to stand up, but ended up falling off of the bed with a thud.

"Shit! Are you okay!?"  
Rich slid off the bed onto the ground, next to Michael.

"I'm fine-"  
Michael went to sit up, and hissed. He coughed and sighed.  
"I'm good."

 Rich frowned slightly before realizing his hand was awkwardly reached out in front of Michael. He immediately brought his arm to his chest and chuckled nervously.

Michael stared for a moment. "How'd you sleep?" He asked, trying to start a normal conversation.

"Uh- fine, I guess." Rich mumbled with a yawn. "I guess." He repeated, hinting at how tired he was. 

A few awkward moments passed before Michael stood up, followed by Rich.

They both looked around the room, before Michael perked up. He leaned over the bed and grabbed his hoodie.

After putting it on, he nodded and grabbed a pair of jeans from on his dresser.

They stared at each other for what felt like forever. 

Eventually, Rich broke the silence by clearing his throat.

It echoed throughout the room, and Michael chuckled. "We should skip."

"What?"

"Stay here. With me."

"Oh- okay."

Michael beamed. "Wait, really?"

"Course. What else am I supposed to do?"

"I dunno, go to school?"

"Yeah, no thanks."

They shared a laugh.

"You can change. I'll do it myself, and go see if there's anything edible downstairs." Stated Michael, who was already halfway out the door.

Rich nodded and grabbed his clothes from the day before, and waited until Michael left.

* * *

 A few minutes later, Rich headed downstairs and noticed Michael standing in the kitchen with a twenty dollar bill in his hand. 

"Maybe we could go get something?"

"Oh, sure. Sounds like a plan."

Michael nodded and stuffed the money into his pocket. 

Rich opened the front door and stepped outside, followed by Michael.

"Where'd you feel like going?" Rich asked, walking down the stairs and stopping at the sidewalk.

"I dunno. I'm fine with whatever, honestly. Anything except McDonald's."

Rich chuckled. "Why not McDonald's?"

"The last time I went, I was like, ten? I got hella sick. Kind of felt like I was dying."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah. Never been there since."

Rich shrugged. 

"There's a bakery a little ways down. They have good muffins." Stated Michael, who was already walking in the direction of the mentioned bakery. 

Rich wasn't far behind. "Sounds good, I guess."

Michael stuffed his hands into his pockets. "So, anything new? Other than hanging out with the lamest guy ever."

"Wh- you're not lame." Rich mumbled, now walking next to Michael. Music was playing from his headphones, but it was quiet.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Did the dinosaurs come back, too?"

It took a moment before Rich understood Michael's statement. "No, you're just- not lame."

Michael nodded. "You win."

Rich smiled to himself. "Anyway, how far's the bakery?"

"Dunno. Probably ten minutes walking distance."

Rich nodded and stared awkwardly at the ground as he walked.

After a while of nothing other than footsteps, Michael spoke up.

"You okay? You've been quiet since yesterday."

Rich raised an eyebrow. "I'm good."

"Is it Jake?"

"What- no!"

"It's Jake, isn't it."

"Shut it."

"I'll fight him. Do you want me to fight him?"

Rich groaned, resulting in Michael chuckling.

"No, I don't want you fight him. I'm fine."

Michael frowned. "Then what's up?"

"Nothing's up, seriously."

"Fine. But if you need to talk, gimme' a call." Michael winked, though it looked more like he was just blinking.

Rich felt heat rise to his cheeks. "Yeah."

Michael noticed the redness, and raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were cold."

"I didn't say I was cold."

"I know, but you were cold."

"Whatever." Rich groaned, his face growing redder. 

Michael smiled softly. "What're you gonna go without Jake? He was like, the only person you ever hung out with."

"I'll probably just be alone. Take classes alone, eat alone, walk alone, die alone."

Michael huffed. "What about me?"

"You have Jeremy, don't you?"

"Not really. He's always with Christine."

Rich shrugged. "I guess I can fit you into my, oh-so-tight schedule."

Michael nodded. "Good. And I'll make time for you in my, oh-so-busy day."

Rich smiled, and Michael smiled back. 

 

 

Why did Michael have to be so adorable all the time?

* * *

 

-OOF I'LL CONTINUE THIS LATER BECAUSE WHY NOT-


	5. The Compliment Game.

Rich and Michael went to the bakery blah blah blah The Writer™ has an idea so shut yer yappers.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

It was the next morning, and Rich ended up sleeping at Michael's place again. 

Michael was already up and dressed, though he was sitting on his bed, playing some super old video game.

"Maybe we should go to school today." Rich suggested, falling back onto the bed.

Michael shrugged, not taking his eyes off the game. "I guess. But doing random shit with you is more fun."

Rich pondered for a moment. "I mean, there's always tomorrow, for school, right?"

"It's Friday."

"Oh- really? Damn. I thought it was Thursday."

Michael chuckled and paused his game. "There's always Monday."

Rich smiled. "Hey," he turned over, his head now hanging over the side of the bed. "We should play one of those weird games that everyone played in middle school."

Michael raised an eyebrow. 

"Y'know, like truth or dare, would you rather? I was online and found some weird ones. Hold on."

Rich pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. He eventually opened the page he was on earlier.

"Look." He handed the phone to Michael.

Michael took it and scrolled through the page. "Oh god. 'the compliment game', 'bloody- wh- why is bloody mary a suggestion?"

Rich shrugged innocently. "See anything you like?"

"Well the only decent one is that compliment one. You just compliment the other person until you're out of ideas."

Rich nodded and took his phone back, turning it off and stuffing it back into his pocket. "Okay, well- uh, you're funny?"

Michael chuckled. "People like you."

" _Some_ people."

"Whatever."

"It's nice, talking to you."

* * *

The two ended up 'complimenting' each other back and forth for nearly half an hour, and it got less awkward as minutes passed.

 

There was a moment of silence, before Rich broke it.

"Your eyes are really beautiful."

He honestly didn't realize he'd said that out loud, until he noticed Michael flinch.

"Wh- you-" Michael's face flooded red, and he turned away.

Rich smiled and sat up. "What's wrong? Out of ideas?"

Michael stayed silent for a moment, before looking back over. "Your lisp is cute."

"You're cute." Rich mumbled, staring down at his hands.

Michael tensed up slightly. "What?" He squeaked out.

"You heard me."

"Yeah but- you- I-" Michael didn't know what to say.

Rich smiled to himself. "I win."

"You win." Michael breathed, still in slight shock.

It was silent for a few minutes, until Michael spoke up.

"Hey, Rich?"

"Mhm?" 

"I mean, I know this isn't really the best time, since it's awkward and all-"

"It's cool. You can say whatever."

 "Do you actually like me? Like,  _like like?"_

Rich smiled nervously. "Depends. Do you like  _me?"_

"Yeah." Michael mumbled quietly.

Rich froze. He didn't really expect the answer to be 'yes'. 

"Well, uh- yeah. I do."

Michael perked up. "I- seriously?"

"Mhm." Rich hummed, leaning forward slightly.

"Wow, okay- I didn't think that would be your response."

"Why not? I mean, I thought it was pretty obvious."

"Well I'm oblivious as hell, so that's one reason."

Rich shrugged innocently. He let his eyes flicker over Michael's features. 

God, Rich didn't even know what made him catch feelings for his friend. 

Neither did Michael, honestly.

They were just two confused kids, who were in love with each other. What were they supposed to do? 

" _Hey, we should go out."_

_"Sure! It's not gonna be awkward at all!"_

_"Great."_

_"Wait, who's saying what?"_

_"No idea. None of us can muster up the courage to ask the other out, so this is just our consciences talking to each other."_

_"Oh. Cool."_

* * *

 

 

Ooc. 

Why was this so fucking late? 

I thought I posted this chapter, but I didn't. So I came back to write another one and realized I didn't post this. 

Fu c k


End file.
